Kate Johnson This is not what I meant when I told Harvey Jr. that we would make it better. This is not what I wanted to become. I didn’t think about the fact that we would actually be hunting somebody down but I knew it the whole time. Who am I kidding this is all a terrible plan and I knew it from the start. I wish I could summon the anger and sense of duty that I felt yesterday but it was all gone from me as the four of us line up our shots upon the unsuspecting group below. It’s too late to back out now. Dahvin and Jane’s gunshots ring out in unison as they pick off the woman we assume is our target. She crumples to the ground as I let out a slow and steady breath and fire my pistol at one of the men with her while Art shoots at the other. I hit the old one dodging into the hospital right in the ass. My chest tightens as I take in the aftermath. Is she dead? Did we really do this? The bear moves to cover her from our line of sight. I didn’t feel any better, I didn’t feel relief for Harvey Jr. or Harry Yeng. We shot some woman in the back in cold blood and all that I can do is listen to my heart beating in my chest to know I am still alive. As we ceased fire we peeked over the pile of rubble and watched as the woman, the bear and a man scrambled for the covered of the hospital they’ve been standing in front of.
That’s when we saw the kid. He had been riding his bike in circles well out of the line of fire and babbling some nonsense before we started shooting. Now he is walking right at us and his eyes are glowing green . Dahvin told him to stop repeatedly but I knew how itchy he got when people approached us.
“Don’t shoot him,” I yelled. “He’s just a kid!” and that’s when Diane came up the hill with her gun drawn. Art grabs it from her and we all began to fight but it is just a kid with some weird trick to make his eyes glow green. I think he’s trying to scare us away but he’s going to get himself hurt. I start feeling the skin on my back crawl and start tapping the back of my hand. Something isn’t right about this, two, three, four. Dahvin takes the butt of his rifle and swings to knock the kid back as I shout out at him. “No! It’s just a kid!” but he connects and the rifle stock cracks. The kid stands there looking at us. Five, not possible, not possible, not possible..“That’s not possible..”
Kate crumples to the ground “It’s not possible. It’s not possible.” She keeps repeating quietly and tapping the back of her hand furiously as if it’s going to protect her. She goes silent as she rocks back and forth tapping the back of her hand. What is it, what is that, we’re dead, we’re all dead.Her mind races as she starts to shut down. She is gone, somewhere else mentally, her fear turning her in to a helpless creature. It continued walking at them as everybody suddenly switches into retreat. Jane grabs Kate by the collar of her jacket, hauls her to her feet and starts dragging her so they can get away from the thing. The android suddenly retreats at the sound of a distant voice calling to it and Kate starts coming back.
“That shouldn’t happen! Why aren’t we dead?”The words start falling out of her mouth leaving little time for answers or breathing. Hysterical, she keeps spouting words while her thoughts race like the blades of a wood chipper and then Whack! Jane slaps Kate across the face. The words stop, the blades in her head stop, while Kate is stunned. She focuses on the pain of her face, her anchor to reality, as she climbs back towards sanity. Kate finally looks out of her eyes at the world in front of her and Jane stares back. My best friend. My rock. Deep breath Kate. As she exhales the fragments bind back together in her head. Her crippling fear dissipates and the pounding in her ears subsides.
“I’m okay...” She finally gets out.I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m alive. “What the fuck was that thing?”
This is not what I meant when I told Harvey Jr. that we would make it better. This is not what I wanted to become. I didn’t think about the fact that we would actually be hunting somebody down but I knew it the whole time. Who am I kidding this is all a terrible plan and I knew it from the start. I wish I could summon the anger and sense of duty that I felt yesterday but it was all gone from me as the four of us line up our shots upon the unsuspecting group below. It’s too late to back out now. Dahvin and Jane’s gunshots ring out in unison as they pick off the woman we assume is our target. She crumples to the ground as I let out a slow and steady breath and fire my pistol at one of the men with her while Art shoots at the other. I hit the old one dodging into the hospital right in the ass. My chest tightens as I take in the aftermath. Is she dead? Did we really do this? The bear moves to cover her from our line of sight. I didn’t feel any better, I didn’t feel relief for Harvey Jr. or Harry Yeng. We shot some woman in the back in cold blood and all that I can do is listen to my heart beating in my chest to know I am still alive. As we ceased fire we peeked over the pile of rubble and watched as the woman, the bear and a man scrambled for the covered of the hospital they’ve been standing in front of.
That’s when we saw the kid. He had been riding his bike in circles well out of the line of fire and babbling some nonsense before we started shooting. Now he is walking right at us and his eyes are glowing green . Dahvin told him to stop repeatedly but I knew how itchy he got when people approached us.
“Don’t shoot him,” I yelled. “He’s just a kid!” and that’s when Diane came up the hill with her gun drawn. Art grabs it from her and we all began to fight but it is just a kid with some weird trick to make his eyes glow green. I think he’s trying to scare us away but he’s going to get himself hurt. I start feeling the skin on my back crawl and start tapping the back of my hand. Something isn’t right about this, two, three, four. Dahvin takes the butt of his rifle and swings to knock the kid back as I shout out at him. “No! It’s just a kid!” but he connects and the rifle stock cracks. The kid stands there looking at us. Five, not possible, not possible, not possible.. “That’s not possible..”
Kate crumples to the ground “It’s not possible. It’s not possible.” She keeps repeating quietly and tapping the back of her hand furiously as if it’s going to protect her. She goes silent as she rocks back and forth tapping the back of her hand. What is it, what is that, we’re dead, we’re all dead. Her mind races as she starts to shut down. She is gone, somewhere else mentally, her fear turning her in to a helpless creature. It continued walking at them as everybody suddenly switches into retreat. Jane grabs Kate by the collar of her jacket, hauls her to her feet and starts dragging her so they can get away from the thing. The android suddenly retreats at the sound of a distant voice calling to it and Kate starts coming back.
“That shouldn’t happen! Why aren’t we dead?”The words start falling out of her mouth leaving little time for answers or breathing. Hysterical, she keeps spouting words while her thoughts race like the blades of a wood chipper and then Whack! Jane slaps Kate across the face. The words stop, the blades in her head stop, while Kate is stunned. She focuses on the pain of her face, her anchor to reality, as she climbs back towards sanity. Kate finally looks out of her eyes at the world in front of her and Jane stares back. My best friend. My rock. Deep breath Kate. As she exhales the fragments bind back together in her head. Her crippling fear dissipates and the pounding in her ears subsides.
“I’m okay...” She finally gets out. I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m alive. “What the fuck was that thing?”